Stars shine on busy night of AFC CL action
Shanghai SIPG had no problems continuing its winning start to AFC Champions League Group F, beating A-League club Melbourne Victory 4-1.
Brazil stars Hulk and Oscar led the way as Shanghai SIPG cruised to a 4-1 win over Australian side Melbourne Victory in the AFC Champions League, while Jeonbuk Motors thrashed Kitchee 6-0.
Hulk gave Shanghai the lead in the 27th minute from the penalty spot after Wu Lei – who then scored their second just before the break – had been fouled in the area.
Oscar then took over in the second half, netting either side of Besart Berisha's penalty for the visitor to take Shanghai on to maximum points from two games in Group F.
That leaves Shanghai two points clear of Ulsan, which beat Kawasaki Frontale 2-1.
Kitchee was comprehensively beaten 6-0 by Jeonbuk – striker Adriano scoring a hat-trick, while Kashiwa Reysol and Tianjin Quanjian drew 1-1 in the other Group E clash.
Persepolis's unbeaten run was ended at 22 games across all competitions, with the Iranian side beaten 3-1 away to Al Sadd, which secured a seventh successive triumph.
Baghdad Bounedjah stole the show, scoring a brace to continue his remarkable recent run of form, taking his tally to 10 in his last eight appearances.
That result leaves Al Sadd three points clear at the top of Group C, with Persepolis and Nasaf – which beat pointless Al Wasl 1-0 – already with ground to make up.
In Group D, Al Ain and Al Rayyan drew 1-1 to leave them on two points apiece, while Esteghlal took charge by beating Saudi giant Al Hilal – which had goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi sent off – 1-0.